Great Odin’s Blend
2021 Absolution Cellars Great Odin’s Blend – Both the Wine and Bottle Label Artwork are Excellent
Background
This wine was entered into the 5th International Cabernet Franc Competition in 2024 and received Silver Medals from both the Professional and People’s Choice Judges in the Blend Division. His Cabernet Franc won a Gold Medal from the People’s Choice Judges and a Silver from the Professional Judges. I have since tasted many of their wines and they hand crafted wines each bottle adorned with great art work.
The Wine – “Wine is bottled Poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
This wine is a blend of 60% Cabernet Franc, 27% Syrah and 13% Cabernet Sauvignon. First on the eyes a deep ruby coloring and medium viscosity. On the nose, a smattering of aromas waft into the senses including fruits of red cherries, blueberries and raspberries with not one being dominant. On the palate the fruits manifested gently in the mouth and spices of black pepper along with mellow herbaceous spices. The finish was smooth and tannins were soft and gentle.
For 2021 only 3 barrels were made with all the grapes coming from the Central Coast AVA. The wine came in at 13.9% alcohol and received a score of 92 points from Wine Enthusiast. The price for 2021 was $50/bottle. This wine was very good with the meal and by itself a very calm and relaxing wine to sip.
Current vintage is 2023 and which has received a score of 94 points and an Editor’s Choice award. Other accolades include Double Gold at the Orange County Fair and Gold Medal at the Central Coast Wine Competition. Their website shows $55/bottle and is almost sold out. His 2024 was just released in August 2026 with a similar blend and goes for $60/bottle.
While not usually commenting on wine labels, Absolution Cellars bottles have the licensed artwork from Aja Trier of Sagittarius Gallery. Each label by her being unique, creative and mind illuminating similar to the winemaker Dirk Neumann’s creations.
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Paired this evening with a meat ravioli from Giovanni Rana, new to us, with simple marinara sauce with added ground beef and ground pork. Essentially the meaty Bolognese sauce and the wine were more than compatible and provided an excellent and quick meal in time to watch Monday Night Football. Topped with fresh Parmesan cheese.
Would recommend this food and wine pairing with no hesitation.
The Winery
Photo from Absolution Cellars website
Dirk Neumann is the owner and winemaker of Absolution Cellars. He specializes in small batch production featuring single-vineyard grapes from the Central Coast. The tasting room is located at 845 Embarcadero, Suite H in Morro Bay, California, next to the ocean. Each year Dirk makes over 20 different varieties focusing on the expression of the vineyard. Dirk’s style combines Old World vineyards and creativity that the New World winemaking offers. Typically, the grapes are hand sorted in each cluster, destemmed and sorted again by hand. The red wines are aged between 16-40 months in neutral barrels.
Current offerings of his wines are broad and with limited quantities. Besides his Great Odin’s Blend are: Albariño, Marsanne/Roussanne blend, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Clairette Blanche, Grenache, Penance (white blend), Pinot Noir, Rosé of Graciano, Rosé of Mourvèdre, Rosé of Sangiovese, Syrah, Trebbiano, Verdelho, Zinfandel, Petit Verdot and Tempranillo.
Photo from Jesse A and Absolution Cellars website
A little bit more on artist Aja Trier with her imaginative artwork inspired by animals, nature and travel. Her art is known for rich colors, luminous skies and imaginative detail blending realism and abstraction. Her art while sipping the wine is contemplative and inspiring.
The name Great Odin’s Blend came from two sources. First being the supreme chief deity of pantheon in Norse mythology. His key traits were wisdom, poetry, death, magic and royal leadership. He is depicted as a tall, grey-haired one-eyed elder. He gave up one eye to sacrifice it for knowledge, wisdom and insight. The other reason for the name is that his dog is named Odin!
Sláinte,
Michael Kelly
https://californiawinesandwineries.com